NEW YORK (AP) – Gold prices exploded
Wednesday—posting the biggest one-day gain ever in dollar terms—as
fears of more credit market turmoil unnerved investors and triggered a
flood of safe-haven buying.
Gold for December delivery rose as much as $90.40, or 11.6 percent, to $870.90 an ounce in after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange
after jumping $70 to settle at $850.50 in the regular session. That was
the biggest one-day price jump ever; gold’s previous single-day record
was a $64 gain on Jan. 29, 1980. In percentage terms, it was gold’s
largest one-day advance since 1999.
The huge rally came after
the government moved overnight to rescue troubled insurer American
International Group Inc. with an $85 million bailout loan. The Federal Reserve
stepped in after AIG, teetering on collapse from losses tied to the
subprime crisis and the credit crisis, failed to find adequate capital
in the private sector. ..more…